First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin

Rev Chris Jimmerson's service delivered on July 5, 2026. Join us for the first in a sermon series exploring the spiritual significance of the ways (called "ends") through which we as a church have committed to living our mission. This Sunday, we will contemplate the first of our four ends: We are a collaborative, pluralistic church living our values and mission in the greater world, achieving toge...

Rev Carrie Holley-Hurt's service delivered on June 28, 2026. What do Care Bears, Pride, spirituality, and UU theology have in common? According to Rev. Carrie, a lot. Join her to see how she makes that argument.

Rev Carrie Holley-Hurt's service delivered on June 21, 2026. You can't throw a rock without learning about the harm that patriarchy plays in the lives of women and children, but what we don't often think about is how patriarchy impacts men and boys and the many obstacles it places between them and their full humanity. Join Rev. Carrie as she uses Father's Day to explore the impact of patriarchy on...

Rev Chris Jimmerson's service delivered on June 14, 2026. Building the Beloved Community and living into our full potential as individuals are far from exclusive pursuits - each requires the other. Our ability to flourish as individuals is bound up in creating communities and societies rooted in a fierce love that recognizes our sacred interdependence.

Rev Chris Jimmerson's service delivered on June 7, 2026. Join Rev Chris, Sol, and our Chalice Camp participants for this much-loved Unitarian Universalist ritual where we bring flowers to add to the large bouquet we create and take a different flower with you, symbolizing both the unique, sacred beauty of each of us and the even greater beauty we create when we share that sacred uniqueness with on...

Rev Carrie Holley-Hurt's service delivered on May 31, 2026. There is what we aspire to be....the utopian vision of how we can be, and then there is the often harsh and painful reality of people's lived experiences. Inspired by Jose Martinez's powerful work "Voces Olvidadas," Rev. Carrie explores what it means to expand our capacity to hold what we are working for while also holding reality, especi...

Rev Chris Jimmerson's service delivered on May 24, 2026. The board of First UU Church of Austin has been listening to the congregation about your dreams for the church and the differences it might make in our community and our world. Join us as the board president Karen Neeley and the Rev. Chris talk about your exciting vision for what comes next.

Rev Chris Jimmerson's service delivered on May 17, 2026. You have probably heard the old "truism" that "Curiosity Killed the Cat", but did you know that there is a lesser-known version that says, "Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back." What if curiosity can feel risky, but actually holds the key to both individual and collective liberation?

Rev Carrie Holley-Hurt's service delivered on May 10, 2026. The origin stories of Mother's Day were a cry for peace and an attempt to acknowledge the work of nurturing that goes unrewarded in a patriarchal society. While the day has become about the physical act of bearing and/or rearing children, the origins speak to something more radical, the transforming power of nourishing and providing care....

Rev Carrie Holley-Hurt's service delivered on May 3, 2026. If we hold values such as equity, interdependence, and justice, what are we obligated to do when we encounter situations that violate those beliefs? And what do we do when we feel overwhelmed by the number of situations that violate our beliefs? Can we do anything? Rev. Carrie explores these questions through the lens of May Day using our...

Rev Chris Jimmerson's service delivered on April 26, 2026. Rising authoritarianism. The climate in crisis. War without reason or remorse. Racism, misogyny, and bigotry unbridled. Democracy, equality, justice seemingly at threat in so many places. And, of course, our dreams for our own individual life can sometimes feel at risk also. And yet, what if creative potential, our own and the world's, is...

Rev Carrie Holley-Hurt's service delivered on April 19, 2026. This Sunday we celebrate all our volunteers who keep our church alive in a million different ways and make it possible for us to live into our mission. Our theology teaches us about the inherent worthiness of all and the beauty of our interdependence. In this church, when we put those beliefs to work, we generate beautiful things both i...

Guest speaker Dr. Elias Ortega's service delivered on April 12, 2026. Dr Ortega explores how the Love Ethics of our Universalist tradition extends a radical welcome to a world marred by deep divisions, conflict, and growing uncertainty. Our shared Unitarian Universalist tradition invites us to choose Love as our guide in our relationships with one another and the world. This is a daring faith. A f...

Rev Carrie Holley-Hurt and Rev Chris Jimmerson's service delivered on April 5, 2026. Rev. Chris and Rev. Carrie challenge each other with questions about this time that is so sacred to so many. Join us as we seek to understand and experience Easter in a Unitarian Universalist theological context.

Rev Carrie Holley-Hurt and LB Lomeli's service delivered on March 29, 2026. The early warning alarms of genocide directed towards transgender people are starting to sound blaringly loud. How do we turn anger against transgender, nonbinary and intersex people into love? Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt and LB Lomeli are offering a special Trans Day of Visibility worship service. Can we collectively challeng...

Rev Chris Jimmerson and Sol Cornell's service delivered on March 22, 2026. Everybody has to start somewhere. We tend to focus more on our endings, though, what we've accomplished, what we've lost. But what if we turned our attention back to the beginning? What if we held our first steps and awkward starts with the same honor we do our successes? This Sunday, we'll pause to notice these beginnings...

Rev Chris Jimmerson's service delivered on March 15, 2026. The ability to keep our attention focused on the present moment has been shown to benefit us emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Yet sometimes, doesn't it feel like the past many present moments (years?) have been filled with drama, trauma, and a constant deluge of factors vying for our attention? How might we develop the spiritual r...

Rev Carrie Holley-Hurt's service delivered on March 8, 2026. What do you do when the onslaught of bad news floods our nervous system and causes us to feel shaky in our faith? Rev. Carrie explores that question and leads us through a spiritual practice of lament.

We come together to celebrate the life of Rev Meg Barnhouse. Rev. Erin Walter and Rev. Joanna Crawford read two of Meg's published stories. Invited guests who shared their personal stories include: Rev Chris Jimmerson, Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancourt, Rev. Tandi Rogers, Rev. Jake Morrill, as well as her two sons, Ned and Sam Durrett. Rev Kiya Heartwood performed songs.

Rev Chris Jimmerson's service delivered on March 1, 2026. As the song says, "Well, you know, we all want to change the world." The thing is, we can't romanticize the revolution. Revolutions can be hard and messy, and last beyond singular lifetimes. The world resists change mightily, at times with the starving of souls and the spilling of blood. How do we sustain ourselves through the long revoluti...

Guest Speaker Rev Dr Leona Stucky-Abbot's service delivered on February 22, 2026. Infants begin to develop their brains in the context of a mothering matrix, which involves the important relationships of their early years. Internalized relational patterns gradually establish expectations and structures for how babies think. Their novice experiences also distort who mother is and why she exists. Th...

Bis Thornton's service delivered on February 15, 2026. Our world is full of so much greed, violence, and hatred. Many of us have begun to wonder: "Is love really enough?" Recently, the Texas UU Justice Ministry (TXUUJM) joined 30 partner organizations in a procession to the ICE family detention center outside of Dilley, Texas. Join TXUUJM Intern Minister Bis Thornton for a journey through the even...

Rev Carrie Holley-Hurt's service delivered on February 8, 2026. Fear is the reason we are here. It is a tool for survival but it can also get in the way of living into our values and meeting the moment. Rev. Carrie explores how we might honor our humanity, listen to our body, and live in alignment with our values.

Rev Carrie Holley-Hurt's service delivered on February 1, 2026. To paraphrase Parker Woodland, "The world's on fire, and we are still going to find joy." Joy that nourishes us and joy that sustains us. In that spirit, please join us to bless the beloved animal companions in our lives. In these challenging times let us honor our animal companions who are such a vital source of our joy and resilienc...

Rev Erin Walter's service delivered on January 18, 2026. Rev. Walter will hold space this Sunday through the words and music of the Rev. Meg Barnhouse, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, and more. Join us in community as we hold the joys and sorrows of the world, the nation, and our own hearts.